Down the Road (A Modern Retelling of the Wizard of Oz)
by jonnaivin
Summary: Dotty was living in Los Angeles when she caught her boyfriend cheating on her. Now all she wants to do is get back to her farm in Kansas. In a stolen (borrowed!) yellow Cadillac convertible, Dotty hits the road with her beloved dog Ozzy. Along the way she meets a young stoner kid named Scott Crow, a sexy but heartless mechanic, Tim Mann, and a sweet but painfully shy transvestite.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Dotty scrambled around her small single apartment looking for her waitress uniform. It was a horribly sexist dress fashioned after a bad sexy milkmaid costume found in pop-up Halloween shops. With blue and white gingham and a puffy skirt that was much too short, Dotty always felt like a fool wearing it.

As usual, she was running late and the reason she was always running late was that she really hated her waitress job. The restaurant was fine, the food okay, but the owner Marvin was a creepy little perv (Hence the sexy milkmaid uniform.) that made every hour of her shift completely insufferable. More than anything, Dotty dreamt of the day she could quit her job, but then how would she ever pay for this run down, crappy apartment in this run down, crappy neighborhood?

Dotty found the uniform at the bottom of a heap of dirty clothes. She pulled it over her head at looked at herself in the mirror. Was this really her life? She took in her reflection and realized, yes it was. Her boobs were smooshed up and out by the tightness of the milkmaid bib on the milkmaid dress. She wore the thigh-high socks that were a pervy mandatory part of this whole pervy ensemble. As Dotty slipped her feet into the sky-high heels which were also mandatory, she told herself something had to give and it had to give soon.

The sound of her dog, Ozzy whimpering pulled Dotty's attention away from the mirror. She looked at her beloved pit bull and shrugged. "I know," she said, "but what are you going to do? Someone has to pay the rent around here and you sure aren't doing much to pitch in."

Ozzy covered his face with his paws as if he were embarrassed by his lack of income earnings. If Dotty didn't know better, she could swear Ozzy understood everything she said. As she reached down and rubbed his head she thought her life wasn't all bad. At least she had love and wasn't that the most important thing to have? The two greatest loves of Dotty's life were Ozzy her dog and Randy her boyfriend. Yes, in that order.

There was one more humiliating aspect of Dotty's uniform, the blond wig that hung with two long braids. Dotty pulled the "Heidi" wig over her already naturally blond hair. She had asked Marvin, since she was already blond, if she could simply braid her hair, but of course this was absolutely out of the question because Dotty had colored the tips of her natural hair purple. She thought it was fun, but God forbid sexy Heidi not have completely snow-white hair from root to end. She looked ridiculous. Even Ozzy seemed embarrassed for her. She turned once more to take in her reflection.

At twenty-three, Dotty wasn't what qualified as beautiful by Los Angeles standards. She was too natural for that. Amongst the bevy of models and actresses, Dotty slipped into the background. She wasn't super tall, or teeny-tiny and she didn't have hipbones sticking out. Her cheeks were not razor sharp and her lips were not "bee-stung" with injections of collagen. She didn't wear piles of makeup, false eyelashes or hair extensions. Dotty was what most would describe as a mid-western girl. She was healthy, pretty, and the worst thing you could be in Los Angeles, normal.

Dotty didn't mind not being at the center of attention. That was Randy's job. He was the musician. He was also her high-school sweetheart and the reason she had moved away from Kansas. Randy had always been too big for their small town and when he decided that it was time to make his mark on the world, Dotty had wished him well and told him she understood.

They had stayed in touch and two years into his adventure he had called her up and begged her to join him. She had never gotten over her first love, so Dotty packed a suitcase, piled Ozzy into her car and drove California, but the day she arrived Randy gave her the bad news that his roommates were refusing to let another person move in. Dotty sold her car and took the first apartment she could afford. Too bad it didn't allow pets. For six months she'd been hiding her seventy-five pound pit bull from the landlady.

Randy promised over and over that it was only temporary and now that she was here he was certain his career would take off. He told her often that she was his muse and without her he had not been able to write new songs. Dotty took over managing Randy's career and worked tirelessly trying to book him gigs at the local bars and clubs so that he would have more time to write songs and record YouTube videos which were supposed to build his fan base. Unfortunately, Los Angeles was swimming with a million other Randy's and after two and a half years of living in Los Angeles, Randy had barely made a dent in his big dream of making his mark. His most popular YouTube video had been viewed only seventy-eight times with one comment from MusicLover3853 that read: You suck! Something would have to give soon. Dotty didn't come all the way to California to sling hash in a dive coffee shop dressed as a slutty milkmaid. She came to here to build a life with the man she loved.

Ozzy approached Dotty with his leash in his mouth and dropped it at her feet. He was much better with time and did his best to keep Dotty on schedule.

"Okay, okay," she said while picking up the leash and clicking it to his collar.

Cracking open the door just a few inches, Dotty looked up and down the hallway to check if the coast was clear. It was the same routine every morning.

The main door of the building was open and Dotty could see Mrs. Mintch sweeping the front steps. She topped her sweeping for a moment to pick up a large grey and white cat. "Good morning Mr. Whizzles. Did you have a good night? That's my sweet boy. I bet you're hungry, aren't you?"

If it wasn't for that cat, Dotty would swear Mrs. Mintch was made of stone. It was the only thing the old hag showed any kindness towards. The mean ol' alley cat and Mrs. Mintch were two peas in a pod. They were each hissy, scrappy and not afraid to take a swipe at anyone within reach.

When Mrs. Mintch set the cat down and returned to her sweeping, Dotty seized the opportunity and snuck Ozzy out the back door of the building. They went on their normal morning walk and then Dotty snuck Ozzy back into her tiny apartment. She unhooked his leach and rubbed him behind the ears. "I promise it won't be much longer. If things go as planned, I'll get us a place with a yard. Okay? Now remember." She put a finger up to her lips and whispered, "Shhhhhhhh."

Dotty closed the door with a heavy heart. She hated that Ozzy was stuck inside while she was at work. Back home in Kansas he had a huge plot of land to run around on. Her Aunt and Uncle's farm had been the only home Ozzy had known until now. It wasn't fair for him be locked up in an apartment. Dotty tried not to be resentful towards Randy for not being honest about the living situation, but each time she looked into Ozzy's sweet face it became more difficult.

"Good morning, Mrs. Mintch." Dotty said trying to sound cheerful despite how she was feeling.

"Today's the fifth." Mrs. Mintch scowled in return.

"I know. I'm working on it. On my way to work right now."

Mrs. Mintch pinched her face as she gave Dotty the once over from head to toe. She grunted, "I can't imagine what kind of place you must work at to go out dressed up like…"

"Okay, bye Mrs. Mintch," Dotty said as she scurried off down the street to make the bus. She had figured out very early on that the best way to deal with Mrs. Mintch was to not deal with her.

The bus stop was three blocks away. Dotty ran for most of it. Partly because she was running late and mostly because if she ran it gave the men passing by less of a chance to catcall or try and stop her for her number. Dotty could have changed into her uniform at work, but she had a very big suspicion that Marvin probably had peepholes drilled into the walls and would rather take her chances with random strangers on the street. Besides, this was Hollywood. No one batted an eye at someone dressed in a ridiculous costume.

Within forty minutes, Dotty was working her shift at Gayle's Diner. The restaurant was named after Marvin's mother who for fifty years had held court in the kitchen turning out her home-style comfort food. It was only after the original Gayle passed away and her son took over the business did the creepy uniforms get introduced. Dotty had never met Mama Gayle, as regulars lovingly referred to her, but pictures of her hung in various places around the diner as a reminder of better times.

Dotty wound her way around tables, her arms loaded down with plates over flowing with crowd favorites, an open faced turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes smothered in butter, The Rueben with crunchy twice fried onion rings, The French Dip with crispy fries, and for the hipsters who wanted to be seen in a Hollywood landmark but didn't want to actually eat fattening food, the wedge salad, hold the bacon, and the blue cheese.

Stopping at a four-top Dotty unloaded the plates of food and quickly rushed off to put a new order in the kitchen. As soon as she walked away the people at the table all exchanged their plates giving each other the correct order. No one ever said Dotty was a great waitress, but she smiled a lot, was warm and friendly and had great legs. That was good enough for Marvin.

Approaching the window Dotty slipped the hand written ticket onto the silver order wheel and called out, "Adam and Eve on a raft, two burgers; make one cry, leave one high and dry." She then put a dry lettuce wedge and a slice of lemon on a plate for a very famous actress who was a regular customer. Dotty had recently read in an online article where the actress claimed she never worked out and had a naturally high metabolism. She said her favorite foods were chili cheese fries and peanut butter cups, but Dotty had never served the girl anything but an iceberg lettuce wedge with a slice of lemon and a glass of water with no ice.

Just then Marjorie another waitress in her forties and Dotty's only friend in Los Angeles approached. "I can't believe that son of a bitch. I told Marvin three times I couldn't work on Friday and what does he do?"

"Scheduled you for Friday," Dotty replied.

It was bad enough for a twenty-three year old to wear a slutty Heidi milk maiden uniform, it was just downright sad seeing Marjorie, a middle aged mother of two teetering around in high heels trying to keep what little remained of her dignity. Dotty tried to help Marjorie out as much as she could. Offering to cover shifts, or babysitting for free. The babysitting worked out for both of them. Dotty would sneak Ozzy out of her apartment building and they would go over to Marjorie's house for the day. The kids loved Ozzy and would play with him for hours in the backyard.

Dotty and Marjorie saw Marvin coming their way and they both turned quickly pressing themselves up against the back counter to give him plenty of room to pass. It was the first thing every new waitress learned. Make plenty of room, or else Marvin would press up against you when passing in tight quarters.

As he walked by he muttered, "Let's not dawdle, ladies."

Dotty watched him return to the front of the restaurant as a disgusted shiver ran down her spine. He was a waif of a man, in his mid-fifties with a greasy comb over covering his bald head. "I can't wait for the day I can take this uniform off and throw it at him," she said."

"He's such a perv, you'd probably make his day. The only reason he ordered these is so that he can look at our legs." Marjorie added.

Sure enough they both looked over at Marvin and caught him staring at their legs. He saw that he was busted and averted his eyes.

"Will you cover for me for a minute?" Dotty asked. "I'm really close to getting McGinty's to let Randy play a show. I just have to call them real quick."

"Oh Honey, that's terrific. I'm so proud of you." Marjorie beamed.

"I didn't pay my cell phone bill, so I'm going to sneak into the office. Watch my back, okay?"

"You got it."

Marvin climbed down from the stool behind the register and made his way back behind the counter. The girls once again pressed themselves as far away as possible. "Come on ladies, let's move it," he snapped. "Dotty only give one lemon-wedge not two. We're not running a buffet."

When the slimy little man was out of earshot, Dotty sighed and said, "If other people can make their dreams come true, why can't I?

A few minutes later after checking that Marvin wasn't watching, Dotty snuck into his office and dialed the number for the McGinty's. She had been emailing the manager for weeks and finally he responded that he would listen to Randy's music. Dotty had sent the man a CD and he had emailed her back that they should speak on the phone. This was it. Everyone knew that if you wanted to get noticed by the record industry, McGinty's was the place you needed to play.

Dotty held her breath while the man spoke and then couldn't contain her joy when he said there would be a spot open in three weeks. Granted it was on a Tuesday and six o'clock, but at least it was a start. "You won't be disappointed. Randy's going to be a huge star one day and I'm not just saying that because I'm his manager," she gushed.

The door cracked open, and Marjorie poked her head in. She waved for Dotty to wrap it up. Dotty quickly got off the phone and just got out of the office when Marvin came down the hall.

"Where have you been? Table six needs their check A-sap!"

"Sorry Marvin, I had to change my tampon," Dotty replied. And just like she expected, Marvin turned on his heels and retreated. All the waitresses knew that the sure fire way to get rid of Marvin was to mention anything to do with having a period. The man nearly fainted at just the thought.

Dotty turned to Marjorie and jumped up and down. "They said yes!" she squealed.

For the rest of her shift Dotty was on cloud nine. She was excited for this opportunity for Randy, but she was also proud of herself. She had set a goal, put time and energy into it and it had paid off. Besides driving to Los Angeles on her own, Dotty really had never done anything for herself or by herself. She'd lived a very sheltered life on the farm. Her Aunt and Uncle had been overly protective of Dotty ever since her parents had died and left her in their care. And then just the year before they had both gotten sick and passed away, leaving Dotty all alone. She thought maybe it was her lot in life to always be left alone, and then Randy called and Dotty knew she would never be alone again. She boarded up the farm house, which now belonged to her, listed it with an agency and took off.

It was nearly time for her shift to end when Dotty spotted Randy looking in the window of the diner. Dotty never grew tired of looking at him. With his shaggy blond hair and blue eyes, Randy always looked the part of a rock star. He looked a bit like a young Rod Stewart, and played it up by wearing skintight jeans and scarves even when it was hot outside. He took far more care with his appearance than she ever did. She was much more comfortable in an old pair of jeans, white tee-shirt, flip-flops and a ponytail but Dotty understood, after Randy explained it to her repeatedly, that in the music industry image was important. Still, she sometimes wished they could go out without Randy taking hours to get ready.

Dotty waved to Randy to meet her around back. Marvin had made it more than clear that boyfriends were not allowed inside while the girls were working. He said it was bad for business, but everyone knew he was terrified a jealous boyfriend would get sick of Marvin ogling his girl and take a swing at him.

Dotty went through the kitchen and opened the back door to the alley. When she saw Randy round the corner she ran to him and jumped in his arms. "We did it!" she exclaimed. "You're playing McGinty's!"

Randy threw his head back and whooped while spinning Dotty around. "Oh my God, Baby! You are the best. I love you so much!"

"I love you too. "

Randy set Dotty down. "See, didn't I say if you came out here things would be different? It's just like we planned. As soon as I get that record contract, I'm going to buy us a house, and get you a car... and we'll get married, and you'll be my manager and..."

"Randy, slow down. It's just one gig," Dotty said but deep down she was feeling just as excited for their future. No more sneaking Ozzy around. No more Mrs. Mintch. And most of all no more Marvin and his milkmaid's uniform.

Randy picked her up and spun her around once more. "But I can feel it Dotty, you and me, we can do anything. Dreams really do come true."

Dotty giggled and planted a kiss on him lips before wiggling to get down. "I have to go back inside. Maybe we can get together after I get off."

Randy looked down and the ground and ran his fingers through his hair. "Um, maybe. I'm gonna be working on lyrics for that new song, so just call me. It's about you."

"Oh, that's so sweet but I can't call you. My cell phone was turned off remember?"

Randy looked up and squinted at the sun, then rubbed his chin and bit his lip. "Well babe, why don't we just plan on seeing each other tomorrow night? I'll pick you up after work."

Dotty hid her disappointment as she smiled and said, "Okay. Sure."

She turned to head back into work but Randy stopped her saying, "Oh hey, can you loan me a few bucks. I need to put gas in the Caddy."

Dotty sighed and reaching into her apron pocket pulled out a stack of money in the amount of around forty dollars and handed it to Randy. She had been trying to get Randy to sell that gas guzzling car ever since she arrived but every time she brought it up she got the "image is everything" speech.

Randy took the money, kissed Dotty on the cheek and said, "Thanks babe, you're the best."

By the time Dotty was sitting on the bus stop waiting to go home, her feet were killing her. She sat on the bench next to an elderly couple who were holding hands. Dotty looked over and smiled thinking that some day that could be her and Randy, still in love after so many years. When the bus arrived, she stepped aside and allowed them to board first and when the old man realizes he had forgotten his wallet and they had no money, Dotty paid their fare.

After a long bus ride and a three-block walk on her aching feet, Dotty finally limped into her apartment building. She would take Ozzy out for a quick walk and then take a long hot shower, provided there was hot water, which wasn't always the case. Dotty and the other tenants often complained about the lack of hot water but Mrs. Mintch refused to replace the outdated water heaters. She felt it was the tenant's responsibility to take shorter showers if they all wanted hot water.

Halfway down the hall, Dotty stopped in her tracks. Her front door was ajar. Her first thought was Ozzy and she ran to see if he was still in the apartment. Dotty swung open the door and was shocked to see Mrs. Mintch standing in her apartment holding Mr. Whizzles, with her was a very obese man from Animal Control. The man had a long pole around in his hands with a rope attached around Ozzy's neck. Ozzy was crouched on the floor growling and the man tried to pull him out the door.

"That dog is a menace," Mrs. Mintch was saying and Dotty entered the room.

"What are you doing?" Dotty shouted. "Let go of him!"

"That mutt snapped at Mr. Whizzles," Mrs. Mintch said with an indignant tone.

Dotty turned on Mrs. Mintch. "What was Mr. Whizzles doing in my apartment? What are you doing in my apartment?"

"I came to hang an eviction notice on your door and I heard a strange noise…"

The animal control officer had gotten the upper hand with Ozzy and began dragging him out of the apartment into the hallway.

Dotty shot a look at Mrs. Mintch and growled, "You're a horrible evil wicked old witch!" She then followed after the agent shouting, "I said let go of him!" With that Dotty rushed the animal control agent, knocking him off balance and sending him tumbling to the ground. "Ozzy, run!" Dotty shouted.

As Dotty ran for the door she heard Mrs. Mintch saying to the agent, "Get up you tub of lard and go get them."

"Geez Lady, she's right, you are mean," the man answered as he pulled himself up and lumbered after Dotty and Ozzy.

The animal control agent was no match for Ozzy and Dotty. Even in high heels she managed to out run him and when they were safely a few block away, Dotty stopped and whistled for Ozzy to do the same. He walked back to Dotty and she removed the rope and pole from around his neck. It brought tears to her eyes to think of how scared he must have been when strangers came into their home. "Are you okay?" she asked while squatting down and rubbing his ears. Ozzy covered her face in kisses, letting her know that he was all right. "Come on, let's go."

It took over an hour for Dotty to reach Randy's house. By the time she got there she was exhausted. Her plan was to spend the night at his house and in the morning he was going to have to go with her to her apartment and pick up her things, not that she had much, a used futon she picked up at a thrift store one suitcase of clothes, a couple of pots and pans and a lamp. Dotty never bothered to buy anything else because the apartment was only meant to be temporary. Randy would just have to tell his roommates that she would be staying with him until they could find a place of their own. It was the same plan, just moved ahead a little.

There was loud muffled music coming from the small beige stucco house. Dotty pounded on the door, but no one answered. She turned the knob and the door opened.

"Hello? Randy?" Dotty called out, but there didn't seem to be anyone around. She knew Randy was home, his yellow convertible Cadillac was parked in the driveway.

Dotty soon realized as she made the way down the hall that the loud music was coming from Randy's room. She remembered he said he was writing a song for her, but as she got closer to the door she recognized the music playing as "Baby One More Time," by Brittany Spears. That was strange. Randy hated Brittany Spears. Why would he be blasting her song?

Dotty opened the door and got her answer. She let out a scream the moment she saw Randy in a lacy pink bra and matching panties jumping up and down on the bed lip-synching the lyrics while a tall, beautiful, blond and very naked woman spanked him.

Dotty screamed. Ozzy barked. Randy stopped jumping and the woman dove for the covers.

"Don't freak out!" Randy stammered. "I can explain."

Now that the woman was safely covered up she regained her confidence and glance over Dotty with her milkmaid dress and Heidi wig. She let out a dismissive laugh and said, "This is your girlfriend? You're right, she is a country bumpkin."

Dotty wasn't able to breath. This couldn't be happening but it was. Her boyfriend was stating on the bed in women's underwear. There was a naked woman, a bitchy one at that, in his bed. Dotty felt like she was in a tunnel. The world was spinning around her. The only thing keeping her grounded was the sound of Ozzy's continuous barks. She had to get out of there. This was so humiliating! Dotty spotted Randy's car keys on the dresser and snatched them. She ran out of the room and out of the house.

Dotty and Ozzy jumped in the yellow Cadillac and she tried to start the car with a shaking hand. In a moment, Randy came barreling out of the house still in the bra and panties. He ran up to the driver's side. "Dotty stop! Don't over react. You know I love you. Julie, in there is a receptionist at Planet Records. I did it for us, baby. She has a lot of contacts."

Dotty swore she would not cry. After the day she'd had the last thing she would do was let him see her cry. "How could you do this to me? We had a pact. It was you and me! I put the farm up for sale so I could come out here and help you. You said we'd be a family." And then Dotty had a realization that socked her in the gut. "This is why we couldn't live together. It had nothing to do with your roommates!"

"Look baby, When you're in the music business..."

"Oh shut up about the music business! You're not in the music business. You work a crappy job at Verizon." Dotty began to mimic the calls Randy had made to her back home, "I love you Dotty. Please come out. I can't make it without you. Blah! Blah! Blah!" And then a second realization punched her in the gut. "That's my bra!"

With more determination, Dotty focused and finally got the key in the ignition. The engine roared to a start.

Randy held onto the side of the door. "Now Dotty calm down. Just get out of the car and we can talk about this."

Dotty through the car into gear, "I never want to talk to you again!"

"You can't take just take my car."

Dotty focused her eyes and glared at Randy. With a lowered voice she stated, "Watch me asshole."

Randy wasn't about to let Dotty take his prized possession. He reached over Dotty and tried to pull the key out of the ignition. Dotty slapped at his hands while shouting, "Get away from me!" Just then Ozzy lunged from the passengers, snapping and growling. Randy jumped back, and Dotty flew out of the driveway, screeching down the street. The last thing Randy saw was Dotty giving him the finger as she took off in his yellow convertible.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Dotty didn't know how long she had been driving when she passed a sign that read: Leaving California. She wasn't even sure she was on the right road. The sun had long gone down and the only thing she was sure of was she was driving east. At least she hoped she was still driving east. After skidding away from Randy, Dotty had driven around Los Angeles, not knowing where to go. She couldn't return to her apartment so she simply drove, cried and drove and cried some more. It was in between the crying and the driving that Dotty realized L.A. wasn't the place for her. Kansas was where she belonged. She missed the farm and she wanted to go home.

She had turned off the main highway some time back and now found herself on a abandoned dirt road out in the middle of nowhere. It was taking all of Dotty's effort to keep her puffy, cried out, eyes open and focused on the road. Looking around all she could see was the black night of the desert sky and what little of the dirt road the headlights illuminated. Ozzy, curled up in a tight ball, was sleeping on the passengers seat. Dotty reached over and stroked his ear. His rhythmic snoring sounded so peaceful it began to lull Dotty into a long slow blink. With each blink her eyes stayed closed longer and longer.

With a jerk Dotty opened her eyes and screamed. Just a few feet from the windshield loomed a giant laughing clown head. Dotty tried to slam on the breaks but couldn't pull her foot off the gas pedal. The high heel of her shoes was caught. Yanking her foot, Dotty felt the heel snap. She pulled sharply on the steering wheel to avoid the horrifying clown while simultaneously slamming on the breaks. The Cadillac went into a spin.

There was nothing Dotty could do. She grabbed hold of Ozzy and held him tight as the car continued to spin out of control. Round and round it spun, the world outside becoming a blur to Dotty. Images flashed before her, Randy and the woman he was sleeping with pointed and laughed, Mrs. Mintch reaching out to snatch Ozzy. These mixed with things Dotty didn't understand, swirls of bright colors, trees, wooden animals and giant flowers with human faces.

Suddenly the yellow Cadillac and slammed to a stop. Dotty's hit the steering wheel and snapped back before everything went black.

Streams of morning light broke through as Dotty fluttered her eyelids open. Her head ached but it was the least of her worries as her vision became clearer. She blinked a few more times not believing was she was seeing. Maybe she was still sleeping. Maybe this was a dream or maybe she was hallucinating. Surrounding the car were dozens of children, some were dressed as flowers and trees, others wearing animal costumes, chipmunks, squirrels, skunks and they were all starring at her. As Dotty looked around the children began to giggle. Where was she and what had happened?

"Is she going to die?" asked a little girl whose face was surrounded by a costume of flower pedals.

A boy dressed as a skunk bravely stepped forward and poked Dottie with a long stick.

"Ow!" Dotty said and she recoiled against the seat of the car.

"She'll live," answered the skunk boy. The rest of the children giggled once again.

"Okay children step away and let me see," came a sing-songy voice of a grown woman. The children parted and Dotty found herself looking at the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She was wearing a whitish silvery flowing gown, a sparkling tiara and enormous shimmering wings that twinkled in the morning sun. Everything about her seemed to glow.

Dotty couldn't take her eyes off the woman as she neared the car. "Am I dead?" she asked. "Are you an angel?"

The woman smiled softly and answered, "No. You're not dead." Her long black braids tickled Dotty's cheek as she leaned closer to peer at Dotty's forehead and place a Ziploc bag filled with ice over it. "Just a bump to the head."

"Where am I?" Dotty asked.

The woman smiled a dazzling perfect smile and answered with a sweep of her hand, "The Rainbow Children's Orphanage."

Dotty tried to get out of the car but was still a bit wobbly. The woman opened the door for Dotty and gave her a hand out. It was then Dotty was able to take it all in. She saw that the Cadillac had crashed into the side of a brightly painted outdoor stage. It was painted as an enchanted forest, but the crash had knocked many of the wooden trees and boulders over. A painted wooden unicorn still lay on the hood of the car. Dotty turned and saw a small brick building to her right. Attached to the roof was a large rainbow sign confirming what the woman said. Beyond the stage and simple brick building lay miles and miles of desert nothingness.

And then panic struck Dotty as she whipped her head around. "Where's my dog? Where's Ozzy?"

The woman placed a calming hand of Dotty's shoulder and said, "The children were having fun with him. He is fine. See, he's right over there."

Dotty turned back toward the stage and saw a little boy dressed as a bumblebee walking Ozzy toward her. Around Ozzy's neck was a cardboard cutout of a flower.

"This is an orphanage?" Dotty asked.

"Yes. My name is Grace and I take care of all the children here. And who might you be?"

"I'm Dotty. It's nice to meet you. But, how did I get here?" Dotty couldn't seem to remember much from the night before. She remembered closing her eyes for just a moment, a lot of spinning and then nothing. She thought maybe she had been dreaming the entire thing.

"It appears your car crashed into our stage," Grace said.

"Was anyone hurt?" Dotty asked.

"Just you."

The memoires of the night before came rushing back, Mrs. Mintch chasing her from the apartment and then finding Randy with another woman. Dotty thought she might pass out. "Do you think I could sit down for a minute?"

"Of course," Grace replied, holding out her arm and leading Dotty to a row of fold out chairs that had been set up in front of the stage. As Dotty limped along by her side, Grace first thought that the young woman might be injured, but then saw that one of her ridiculously high heels was broken. "Do you have another pair of shoes?" Grace asked while guiding Dotty into the chair.

Dotty shook her head and looked down at her hands. There was something about her that tucked at Graces heart. She could see Dotty was trying to be brave, but she could also sense a deep loneliness in the girl. "Wait here," Grace said and then turned and seemed to glide off toward the brick building.

Dotty sighed as she watch the Grace walk away. She didn't think she would ever be a beautiful and, well graceful as a woman like that. Dotty imagined even without the gown, tiara and angel wings, Grace probably still looked like a fairy princess.

A dark haired boy called from the stage, "Do you want to see us do our song?"

"I'd love to," Dotty called back.

The children all gathered on stage and began to sing and dance a choreographed routine. It was the sweetest thing Dotty had ever seen. (Okay, the second sweetest thing. Picking up Ozzy for the first time when he was eight weeks old still held the number one spot for her and it always would.) More than anything Dotty felt, although this was an orphanage with all the sadness that held, there was an overflowing abundance of love.

After a moment, Grace returned carrying a cardboard box. She set it on the chair next to Dotty and opened it. Inside it was filled with old clothes. "The local church in town donates old clothes," she said while pulling out an orange and lime green Hawaiian shirt. "Most of it you wouldn't be caught dead in…" Grace eyed Dotty's milkmaid dress and blond wing and quickly corrected herself. "But then some have a more eclectic style."

Grace finally found what she was looking for and pulled out a pair of red Dr. Martin boots. "Here we go! These should fit."

Dotty put on the boots and laced them up. They were perfect. She stood up and turned her feet to the left and to the right before smiling and saying, "They're wonderful. Thank you."

"So where are you headed?" Grace asked.

"Kansas."

"Oh," Grace smiled. "Is your family there?"

"Actually, I'm an orphan too. I don't have any family," Dotty answered with a sad shrug. "It's just me and Ozzy."

Grace placed a reassuring hand on Dotty's shoulder, "Oh Dotty, you can choose anyone to be your family. It's just the people who you love and that love you most. That's all a family is.

Dotty wasn't convinced. In her experience it seemed everyone she loved always went away, first her parents, then her aunt and uncle and now Randy. Of course Randy didn't leave her, she left him, but as far as Dotty felt, getting in bed with another woman was the same thing as leaving first. It was just the heartless, brainless, and cowardly way to go. "I don't think I'll ever have that," she said.

"Of course you will," Grace said. She looked toward the stage where the children continue practicing their song and dance routine. "I didn't give birth to any one of those children, but I will be a mother to them all for the rest of my life. That's family."

Dotty and Grace watched the children for a moment longer and then Dotty asked, "What's all this for anyway?"

"Every year we have a pageant and raise money to help out with expenses. You're more than welcome to stay and watch the show tonight. We do a big number at the end. Although how I'm going to dance in these wings is beyond me."

"I wish I could. It sounds wonderful, but I really need to get home," Dotty said. "The truth is, I never should have left."

"Well then I wish you a very safe and swift journey."

"Thank you. You're very kind. I keep having this feeling that someday we'll meet again."

Grace gave a warm smile and said, "Maybe we will."

They spent a few moments looking over the damage that had been caused in the crash. The Cadillac was fine and the stage had a few broken boards that would need to be replaced. Dotty offered to stay and help with the repairs, but Grace insisted she get on the road and begin her journey home.

Dotty started up the car, as Grace and the children gathered around to say good-bye. The kids covered Ozzy with pats and hugs as he took his place in the passengers seat.

"I don't know my way," Dotty said to Grace.

Pointing toward the east, Grace said, "Just follow this road and it will take you where you need to be.

As the Cadillac pulled away, Dotty watched in the rearview mirror as the kids from the Rainbow Children's Orphanage, dressed in their costumes of flowers, trees and animals ran behind the car waving good-bye.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

After hours of driving Dotty was lost. She couldn't be sure because in every direction she looked, the landscape was exactly the same. She was pretty sure she had passed the same tumbleweed numerous times. The blazing sun was straight overhead giving her little indication of north, south, east or west. Thankfully, before Dotty had left the Rainbow Orphanage, Grace had given her a small basket to take with her and in it had pack a couple of sandwiches, a few apples and enough water for both she and Ozzy.

Dotty had thought she'd followed the right road, but when she hit a dead end for the fourth time, her frustration grew. It seemed she was going in circles and getting nowhere. Why had she not asked for better directions from Grace? Stupid! Follow this road and it will take you where you need to be? What did that even mean? Where she needed to be was back on her farm in Kansas, not driving around in circles in the middle of the desert getting nowhere.

Dotty pulled the Cadillac up to a crossroads and was shocked to see a young guy coming towards her riding a skateboard. He was wearing no shirt, a backwards baseball cap, baggy shorts, Vans and had a worn out backpack hanging over his shoulders. His white tee-shirt was tucked into the back pocket of his shorts. As he whizzed past, he flashed Dotty a peace sign.

Quickly she threw the car in reverse and backed up to catch him. "Excuse me. Hello?" she called out as she drove backwards alongside him.

The skateboarded skid to a stop, kicked down on the board, and caught it mid air. Dotty stopped the car and as he approached she guessed that he was a teenager. Ozzy stood up in the passengers seat and began wagging his tail. "What's up?" the kid asked.

"I was just wondering…."

"Whoa! Is this your dog?" he asked as he let Ozzy lick his face while he scratched him behind the ears.

The Dotty smiled. The kid seemed harmless enough. "Yeah. Listen could you tell me…"

"What's his name?"

"Ozzy. Do you know how…"

"Yeah Bro! That's so cool! Does he do any tricks?"

Maybe the guy was younger than Dotty first thought. He seemed to have the attention span of a gnat. "No, not really," Dotty answered and then she gave a little laugh and jokingly added, "Unless you consider predicting the future a trick."

The kids blue eyes grew wide as he looked at Dotty with the most serious face and said, "No way man, that's shit's for real! I knew this guy once who could like move stuff with his mind. It was trippy man. But, he was like a total human, you know, and this is like a dog, so it's even better. I once had a cat, but he didn't do nothin' special. He was still pretty cool."

Dotty couldn't figure out of this guy was just messing with her. Unfortunately she didn't have a whole lot of other choices, as she hadn't seen another human being for hours. She took her chances and asked, "Do you know how to get to a main highway going east?"

"Oh yeah, totally."

Dotty waited for him to say something else but he seemed much more interested in playing with Ozzy. "Hey focus!" she snapped.

He stopped playing with Ozzy and looked at her. "Oh right sorry." A blank look came over his face and he asked, "What was the question again?"

Dotty wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry. She spoke clearly and slowly as she spelled it out for him. "I need you to tell me which way is the main highway going east."

"Oh yeah, right. Um let's see..." He turned to the left and then turned back to the right before moving in a slow circle while saying, "If you go up here... no wait... that's no good...hold on a second... it's this way! No hold up bro, that's totally wrong. It's that way. Wait. Hold up." The kid stopped turning in circles and placed his hands on the door. "Dude, you know what? Whenever I go there, I'm in the car so it looks a lot different. It'd probably be easier if I just showed you."

Dotty may have been from a farm in a small town in Kansas but she was an idiot. Letting a strange guy into her car out it the middle of nowhere reeked of a Dateline Special. The sad truth was, even if she went missing no one would know. "How do I know you're not some psycho killer?" Dotty asked.

A look of genuine hurt came over his face as he muttered, "Whoa dude, heavy question." Dotty peered at him intently as she could actually see his brain churning to come up with a reply. It was almost painful to watch. Then suddenly he lifted his head as if a light bulb had gone off and replied with great confidence, "Check this out! If I was like a psycho, Ozzy here would have predicted it and you wouldn't have pulled over!"

Dotty wasn't convinced by his argument, not by a long shot, but she figured he was just too darn stupid to do any real damage. "Get in," she said.

With a big smile, he took off his backpack and slung it in the back seat along with his skateboard as Dotty pushed Ozzy back to make room. Dotty almost would not believe what she was about to see if she hadn't actually in fact seen it with her own two eyes. The kid, she guessed, in his attempt to look cool decided not to open the door but leap in. Before Dotty could stop him his legs flew into the air, hit the side of the windshield and threw his body back down to the pavement with a hard thud. Dotty rushed to put the car in park and then jumped out of the car and ran around to check on him.

"Oh my God," she said. "Are you okay?"

With all the cool he could muster he jumped up and casually asked, "What were we talking about?"

It took everything Dotty had to hold in her laughter. Whatever this kid was, he was no killer. "Um, the highway?"

"Right."

Dotty reached around him and gently opened the door. He took his seat, looked around and said, "Oh yeah, this looks a lot more familiar."

Shaking her head, Dotty walked around the back of the convertible and got back behind the wheel. She put the car in gear and they were off. "What's your name anyway," she asked as they picked up speed.

"Scott Crow"

"I'm Dotty."

"Oh. Well Dotty, you were supposed to turn left back there."

All Dotty could think as she pulled a U-turn was that Kansas had never seemed so far away. When they were finally on the right road and had traveled a few miles, Scott reached in his pocket and pulled out a joint. He lit it and inhaled deeply.

"You know, that stuff will turn your brain to mush," Dotty said feeling much older than her real age.

"Yeah," he answered with a satisfied grin.

She had only know this kid for a short time and he was probably only a few years younger than her, but there was something about his innocence or maybe it was his sheer stupidity that made her feel the need to mother him. "No thanks. Listen, I really appreciate you doing this for me. Can I at least give you a lift home."

Scott reached up his arms and spread them wide. "The world is my home. Well... it was a trailer, but last week I turned eighteen and my Dad kicked me out."

More than anything, Dotty longed for a family. She grew up without her parents and couldn't imagine anyone kicking their child out of their home. "Why did he do that?" she asked.

"I think he has issues with his role as a father and what that means as he grows into middle-age." He took a hit off the joint and held his breath as he added, "Or he's just a douche. I can't decide which."

A worried look came over Dotty's face. "What about the rest of your family? Can they help?"

Scott exhaled the smoke and said, "Nah, it's just me. Oh hey, you can drop me off up here."

Dotty stopped the car at another crossroads and Scott jumped out, once again not using the door. Apparently the kid just didn't like car doors. As he grabbed his backpack and skateboard he said, "Turn right here and go about five or six miles. You'll see the signs for the highway."

"Thanks for all your help," Dorothy said. She was actually going to be sad to see him go. It had been nice having some company.

"No problem," Scott answered while he scratched Ozzy behind the ears. "See ya Ozzy."

Dotty turned the corner and drove away but she couldn't stop herself from taking one last look back. There sat Scott on the side of the road using his skateboard as a seat. He looked so very young and so very alone. She didn't really think it through when she pulled the car back around. Her gut was telling her there was something special about Scott Crow and she needed to help him. Someone she felt that if she could help him, maybe she could help herself. Scott looked up at the sound of the returning car. "Did you get lost already," he joked.

"Look, I don't know what your plans are, and I don't have much to offer, but you're welcome to ride along with me and Ozzy to Kansas. I have a farm there. Like I said, it's not much, but there is plenty of room for you to stay. Maybe, I don't know, you could get a job or go to school."

"Do you grow corn?" Scott asked.

The question threw Dotty as she didn't really know what this had to do with anything, but she answered as honestly as she could. "I suppose I could grow corn. I never really thought…"

"God! I love corn," Scott said as she leapt to his feet. "Maybe it's because my last name is Crow and crows love corn" He turned his attention to Ozzy and said, "What do you say, Dude? Should I check out Kansas?"

As Ozzy wagged his tail and let out a few happy barks, Dotty wondered if Scott had ever taken Ritalin.

"Whoa," Scott laughed, "that's freaky man. He's really good. Why not? Kansas it is."

Dotty wondered about the logic in letting a dog decide your future move across the country, but then she quickly remembered she'd moved across the country for a broke musician who was just caught wearing her underwear and decided she really wasn't in a place to judge.

Before Dotty could stop him, Scott had once again not opened the door, but this time he made the jump and landed perfectly in the passengers seat. He gave Dotty a confident look and said, "Huh?"

With a shake of her head she couldn't help but smile and reply, "Yes, that was very nice."

Standing up, Scott pointed to the open road and called out, "To Kansas!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

It didn't take long to find the highway. Finally Dotty felt she was making some good time. Every mile that passed Dotty could feel her excitement to see the farm again grow. They made a stop to fill up the Cadillac and once again Dotty was reminded of how truly broke she was. She pushed the thoughts out of her mind and simply focused on getting home. Once home she was sure she could figure out some way to make money, she had to; the farm was all she had.

As the yellow Cadillac sped along the empty two-lane highway, Dotty looked over and had to laugh. Both Ozzy and Scott had their heads hanging out of the car, their cheeks blowing in the wind. Her laughter was short lived as the car began to sputter and chug. Soon the car died and Dotty pulled it off the side of the road in a slow crawl. Once stopped, a puff of steam came from the hood. Dotty felt she just couldn't catch a break.

Dotty and Scott got out of the car and opened the hood. More steam poured out, as Scott looked over and asked, "You got a cell phone?"

Dotty gave Scott a look that let him know that no, she did not have a cell phone.

"You really should carry one when you travel alone," he added with a knowing nod of his head.

She would have a cell phone if she didn't wasn't always giving money to her lying, cheating, stupid ex-boyfriend! Dotty could feel her anger and frustration building. The longer she stared at the car, the angrier she became until she gave the bumper a swift kick with the heel of the red Dr. Martins. It felt so good that she kicked it again. And again. She kicked the bumper repeatedly while adding words to vent her frustration. "You stupid piece of cheating crap! You're a lousy boyfriend and a worse guitar player! I hate you! You ruined my life and my favorite bra! I hate you! Bastard!"

When she was exhausted and felt she had said all she could say about the situation, she stopped.

"You feel better?" Scott asked.

Feeling much calmer and quite worn out, Dotty replied, "A bit."

A few hours had passed and Dotty sat on the hood of the car watching Scott hitchhike along the side of the road. Ozzy lay in the back seat panting. At least the sun was beginning to set giving them some relief from the heat. As Dotty watched Scott, with a pained look on his face, struggling to hold up his arm for a moment longer, his arm shaking, she called out to him. "Hey Scott, wouldn't it be easier to wait until you see a car coming and then stick your thumb out?"

She could see the logic of this plan slowly sinking in as he lowered his arm and rubbed his shoulder. He walked toward the car and whined, "Oh man, why didn't you tell me that like three hours ago."

Scott hopped up on the hood of the car sitting next to Dotty while he continued to rub his aching shoulder. The sat in silence for a while until he said, "Thanks Dotty for letting me tag along. It's been awesome."

Dotty looked around at their circumstances, in the middle of nowhere without a cell phone and not a single car in sight and raised her eyebrow. "You think this is awesome?" she asked thinking he may be suffering from heat stroke.

"Well not this," he answered with a wide sweep of his hand to indicate their current predicament. "This part sucks, but earlier it was pretty cool. It's not everyday a guy like me gets to hang out with a rad chick like you and her psychic dog."

Despite how she was feeling about life in general, Dotty had to smile. There was something so sweet and innocent about this young stoner kid that it melted her heat. If she had to be stuck out in the desert in a broke down car she had stolen from her ex-boyfriend, she was glad she was stuck with Scott Crow.

"Can I ask you something?" he said.

"Sure"

"Don't get mad, but what's with the?" he pointed to her dress, "and the?" he pointed to her hair.

She reached up and patting the top of her head realizing she was still wearing the ridiculous Heidi wig from work. Dotty pulled the wig off of her head with a groan, letting her natural hair fall down around her shoulders. "It's a long story," she sighed.

"Does it have something to do with you wanting to beat up this cheating bastard of a car?" Scott asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Something like that."

Looking up at the darkening sky, Scott changed the subject. Mostly because he thought that's what she wanted. "It's gonna get dark soon."

The temperature had dropped dramatically with the sun. "Do you think we should start walking?" Dotty asked with a shiver.

"We could," he shrugged, "but at night the snakes come out."

"Snakes?"

"And tarantulas."

"Tarantulas?" she repeated, her eyes wide as she lifted her feet higher up on the hood of the car.

"And Scorpions," he added.

"Snakes, and Tarantulas..."

"...and scorpions." They finished together.

"Oh my!" Dotty exclaimed knowing that for sure she wasn't setting one foot off this car.

They were so wrapped up in their fear that Dotty and Scott didn't notice the large two truck coming down the road behind them. Scott leapt off the hood and waved his hands in the air as Ozzy lifted his head for the first time in a long while and barked.

A large shining silver tow truck rolled by and stopped just up ahead of the Cadillac. On the side of the each door read: MANN'S TOWING. Dotty had never been so happy to see a tow truck in her life. The truck turned on its flashing light as slowly the door opened. Dotty saw a black work boot step out onto the pavement. It was as if time stopped as she watched the most beautiful man she had ever seen step out of the truck. He had jet black hair slicked back in an early Elvis fashion and was wearing a tight white tee-shirt and greasy Levi's. All thoughts of Randy flew out of Dotty's mind as she watched the stranger pull a cigarette from behind his ear and put it between his lips. He reached into his pocket pulled out a Zippo lighter and lit the smoke with a huge flame. In the glow of the fire, Dotty saw a long thin scar that ran from his eyebrow to his cheek.

The stranger slowly turned and sauntered toward the Cadillac. Dotty held her breath. He came closer to the hood of the car and placed his hand near Dotty's making her gasp. In a low, gravely voice he said, "It look like you need help."

Dotty frantically nodded her head. "Oh yes, I do. I really do!"

He looked Dotty in the eyes and she could see that his were a striking blue. "Well Darlin' you'll have to get off first before I can get it up."

"Okay!" Dotty spat out with a little too much enthusiasm.

Scott leaned it to Dotty and muttered, "I think he means the car. "

She could feel her cheeks grow bright red as she mumbled, "I knew that," before scampering off the hood.

Dotty couldn't take her eyes off the man as he lifted the hood and poked around with the engine. He was perfect. She could see every muscle under his shirt as he worked. The temperature may have been dropping, but Dotty felt like she was on fire. She didn't think men like this existed outside the movies. In the short time Dotty had lived in Los Angeles, she had seen some beautiful people. They all paled in comparison to this dark stranger.

He told her that the car would be needed to be towed to his shop. Dotty nodded along while he spoke, staring at his gorgeous lips. She really had no idea what he was saying but she sure loved watching him say it.

Dotty let her mind wander to what she could do to those lips as she watched as he him lift Randy's car up on the tow truck. When he was done, Ozzy left her side and walked over to the man. As he bent down to scratch Ozzy behind the ears, Dotty could swear she heard him squeak. She looked to Scott and his face told her that he too heard the strange sound. It was a high-pitched metal on metal squeak. Dotty thought perhaps it had come from the car or the truck but when he stood back up she heard the sound again. The squeak seemed to be coming from inside of him.

"Nice dog," he mumbled.

"Thanks," Dotty giggled while looking at his perfect face with its chiseled jaw and high cheekbones. "I noticed on the truck it says Mann's towing." She tried her best to bat her eyes but had the feeling it looked as if she was rapidly blinking. Dotty had never been much of a flirt. "So, are you the Mann?" she asked.

By the look on his face it became clear that yes, she was rapidly blinking at him and it wasn't sexy. "It's my truck, if that's what you mean," he said.

Dotty clasped her hands together and swung them from one hip to the other. "Then I guess I should just call you Mr. Mann, huh?"

He grimaced at her. Yes, actually grimaced as if he felt sorry for her. "You can call me Tim."

Dotty knew she should stop while she was losing. She could hear Kenny Rogers singing in her ear, pleading with her to know when to fold them, but still she couldn't stop giggling and talking. "Well Tim Mann, you can call me anything... I mean anytime..." She giggled like a hyena and then continued to ramble, "I mean my name's Dotty. This is Scott Crow. I picked him up. Well, not like that, on the highway. I'm traveling across country. Yep that's me, just a travelin' gal. Know what I mean? Nothing to tie me down. No sir. Just me and the open road... well, me and my dog, Ozzy... and now Scott... He's homeless."

"Yeah. Okay. You can hop in the truck now," Tim said as he left her in the road and headed for the drivers side.

It was only when he was out of her sight that Dotty fully realized what she had said. She turned to Scott as he headed for the truck and pulled him close. Absolutely mortified she asked, "Did I just tell him to call me anything?"

The sympathetic look on Scott's face was painful to see. " Yeah. It was a little sad and kinda creepy."

Dotty wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

It was a quiet dark ride into town. The sun had gone completely down and all around the black night sky surrounded them. No one spoke for a long time. Dotty bounced around beside time with every bump in the road while Ozzy sat on Scott's lap. It was a tight seating arrangement and Dotty couldn't be more thrilled. Her leg was pressed tightly against Tim's and she wondered if it was taking all his attention, as it was hers.

The silence was almost unbearable. She wanted to know everything about him. "So how did you know we were out here?" she asked finally breaking the silence.

"I didn't" was all he replied.

"Oh, I hope you weren't headed somewhere important. I'd feel terrible if we ruined your…"

"You didn't."

Scott leaned into Dotty's ear and whispered, "Not much of a talker is he?"

Dotty would not be deterred. She was determined to crack through Mr. Tim Mann's touch exterior. If people ever spoke about Dotty they would always say she was friendly and warm. She could talk to anybody. It was her gift. A gift she shared with most of the mid-west but still, a gift. "So I guess it was just a happy accident that our paths crossed."

"Not really," Tim said, "I drive this road every night."

Dotty smiled brightly. "Looking for damsels in distress?" she asked.

"It's quiet."

She took this as her cue to shut up and they all fell back into silence until Tim adjusted his hip and a loud squeak was heard. This time Dotty was certain the sound was coming from inside Tim Mann. She began to wonder if this strong, silent man was actually a robot. When Scott elbowed her, she knew he had heard it too. They exchanged another glance and mutually decided maybe it was best to stay quiet for the rest of the ride.

After a short while the truck drove by a sign reading: NOWHERE POPULATION 642

Inside the tow truck Dotty craned her neck to look out the window. What she saw didn't leave much of an impression. She could see a small diner, police station, a small market, a hole in the wall bar with a broken neon sign that read: C CKTA LS, and not much else. At the end of the street Tim swung the truck around and backed the Cadillac into a small mechanics garage. A sign on the wall read: Mann's Garage.

While Tim looked under the Cadillac, Dotty fed Ozzy a roast beef sandwich that Grace had packed earlier in the day. Scott rolled around on his skateboard trying to do flip. After he crashed into a workbench for the second time, Tim rolled himself out from under the car and said, "If you hit my workbench one more time, I'm going to have to hurt you." Scott picked up his board and walked over to stand next to Dotty, like a child who had just been scolded.

Tim stood up, his hip squeaking, and wiped his hands on a rag. "You've cracked the radiator. I've sealed it but it won't be dry until morning."

All the air deflated out of Dotty. "You mean we have to stay in this shit hole over night?" She flashed a quick smile at Tim and backtracked, "Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's a lovely little town in the light of day."

Tossing the rag onto the workbench he said, "No, it's a shit hole."

Dotty didn't see that they had much choice. She had a little bit of money in her account that she was supposed to use to pay her rent, well at least part of her rent, but that sure wasn't necessary now. "Is there a hotel nearby?"

Scott rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah right. There's a Ritz Carlton right next door to Lloyd's Feed and Grain."

The comment actually managed to get a smile out of Tim. Not exactly a smile but the corner of his mouth curled a little, so Scott was willing to take it as a smile. "Go up to the local bar, talk to the owner Sandi. She rents a couple of rooms. " Tim said. "Tell her I sent you. She's a friend so she'll give you a deal."

"Thanks for all your help," Dotty said.

"No problem."

"I guess I'll see you in the morning." Dotty knew she should turn and walk out, but her feet seemed stuck. They didn't want to move. Her feet wanted her to stand there a little while longer and stare at his beauty. It was taking every little ounce of retrain on her part not to reach out with an index finger and touch the long thin scar that ran along his cheek and disappeared into his eyebrow.

When Dotty didn't make any attempt to move, Tim cleared his throat and looked at Scott. Scott seemed to get the message and gently tugged on Dotty's elbow urging her to move it along.

"Bye," Dotty called out as she walked backwards out of the garage.

As Dotty, Scott and Ozzy, headed down the street toward the local bar, Tim Mann finally allowed himself to smile. He found the girl in the odd dress with the shiny red boots and purple tipped blond hair oddly charming and sweet. She was quirky and beautiful but wholesome at the same time. Tim Mann thought there was something special about this girl, but no matter how much she flirted and batted her eyes, he could never tell her that.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

If the outside of the bar was dingy, the inside was downright depressing. A sad country song played on an old jukebox that still used records. Dotty, Scott and Ozzy stood just inside the door taking it all in. A group of good ol' boys stood around a pool table in the far corner arguing over the rules of the game. Two middle aged women drunkenly swayed out their sorrows on the small parquet dance floor, every now and again pointing at each other and singing the lyrics. Dotty didn't know the song, but from what she could tell it was about a woman who wasn't going to take any more shit from her man.

There were a few empty tables across from the long bar. Dotty nudged Scott and they took one near the wall. Ozzy curled up on the floor at Dotty's feet. After a moment the bartender, a short woman in her mid-fifties with feathered grey hair and a tattoo of an anchor on her bicep came over. "What can I get you folks?" she asked.

Scott sat a bit taller in his chair and puffed out his chest, as much as a skinny kid could. "JD on the rocks. Make it a double," he said with a flick of his chin.

While Dotty stifled a laugh the bartender looked Scott up and down. "I'll tell you what," she said with a sweet smile. "I'll pour you a JD on the rocks, and when you turn twenty-one, why you just come on back and it'll be waiting here for ya."

"Oh man. That blows," he answered sinking down in his chair like a pouting child.

"I'll have a beer and he'll have a coke," Dotty said as Ozzy whined and thumped his tail. "Oh and if it's okay, could you bring a bowl of water."

The bartender looked down at Ozzy. "Sure. Does he bite?"

"Oh no," Dotty answered with a shake of her head.

"Too bad," the bartender said. "With some of this lot around once they get drinking, a biting dog might be just what you need."

The bartender laughed at her own joke as she walked off. In a short while she returned with their drinks and Dotty asked if she was Sandi.

"I sure am," she answered as she place a pie tin with water in it on the floor for Ozzy.

"Tim Mann said you might have a room for the night," Dotty said, then quickly snatched her beer off the table as she saw Scott sneaking his hand over to take the it for himself.

"Oh man!"

Sandi looked around as another group of people came in and headed to the bar. "My regular bartender called in sick. Which translate to 'I want to hang out with my loser boyfriend, drink beer all night and then go shoot rocks'. Last time she called in sick, she turned up three weeks later with a missing tow." Dotty wasn't sure how to respond to that and was happy when Sandi continued. "I can't leave but I can take you up to the room when we close."

"I appreciate it."

A few more people entered the bar and Sandi went back to work serving the thirsty crowd. A young, slender, black man approached a table near Dotty's and asked if anyone was sitting there. Dotty told him it was all his and the man sat down. "Thank you," he said with a shy smile, his eyes never reaching Dotty's face.

Sandi returned a short time later with a blended frothy drink decorated with an umbrella. It was a drink that would have been more at home in a resort on a tropical island. It felt out of place in this rough and tumble honky-tonk, much like the man himself. She set it down in front of the man and said, "Hey Leo. I put an umbrella in it just the way you like."

"Oh thank you," Leo said barely above a whisper, his eyes once again focused down. He took a small dainty sip of his drink and gently touched the paper umbrella. There was a wistful look in his lonely brown eyes.

Dotty recognized the look. She had felt it often. I was a longing for life to be different. She had felt it many nights while alone in her apartment. Wondering what she was doing with her life, and feeling like it was all passing her by. She had told herself it would be different once she and Randy were living together, but now she knew that the plan had always been a lie. Seeing Leo sitting by himself, Dotty's heart went out to him.

Dotty was just about to introduce herself to Leo when two loud men, bursting through the front door pulled her attention away. They were two of the largest men Dotty had ever seen with big bear bellies and over grown scraggily beards. Both men wore leather motorcycle jacket with large wings stenciled on the back. At the sound of their booming voices calling out to Sandi for a round of beers, Dotty noticed Leo shrank lower in his seat.

The men must have been regulars, as it seemed everyone knew them, although it didn't appear they were well liked. Dotty watched as they flipped a cowboy hat off an old man, and pretended to sucker punch another one making him flinch. She immediately pegged them as bullies. Dotty could sense the energy of the room tense up as the other patrons pretended to laugh and smile with the men, but it was nervous laughter prompted out of fear instead of joy.

The only one who didn't seem to fear the two or take any of their crap was Sandi. When they shouted over everyone else bugging her to hurry up with the drinks she casually fired back, "Wait your turn. And I'm telling you right now, first sign of trouble and I'm throwing you out! I won't stand for any crap from you Zeak."

One of the men laughed at the remark and Sandi quickly added, "That means you too, Louie." The man quickly shut up.

Dotty smiled. That was the thing with big loud bullies; the moment you stood up to them they backed down. She was beginning to like Sandi more and more.

The one that Sandi called Zeak, who looked a bit older than his companion wandered over near Leo. Dotty could feel her heart quicken. She glanced over to Leo trying to catch his eye, but he refused to look up. His gaze stayed permanently focused on the paper umbrella in his drink.

"Hey Louie, do you smell something? Zeak called out across the bar.

"What's that, Louie?" the younger man called back with mock surprise in his voice.

It became clear to Dotty that this was some sort of comedy routine these two morons performed on a regular basis. Her blood began to boil as Zeak bend low and sniffed the air over Leo. "Smells like girly perfume to me," he shouted for all to hear.

Louie slapped his knee as he threw his head back and laughed. The other patrons in the bar, looked away in discomfort. Before Dotty could think thing through she leapt up from her seat, leaned over the table where Leo was seated and took a long sniff around Zeak. "That funny, all I smell is pig shit wrapped in ignorance!"

Leo's eyes became saucers of astonishment as he looked up at Dotty for the first time. Behind her Scott Crow covered his head with his arms and muttered, "This can't end well. This can't end well." There was a sprinkling of laughter and a few claps from the patrons until Zeak spun around and the room instantly fell silent once more. He turned slowly back to face Dotty, eyeing her up and down. She felt like a giant cheeseburger standing before a staving man. Just as Zeak was about to open his mouth and say something that Dotty was sure was going to be something vile and no doubt stupid, the front door swung open.

Tim Mann sauntered in. He stopped by the door and lit a cigarette. It was just enough of a distraction to break the tension in the room. From behind the bar, Sandi lifted up a couple of beers and called out to Zeak, "Zeak, you leave those people alone and come over here and get your beer."

Sensing he had just walked into the middle of something, Tim quickly assessed the situation and looked at Zeak while talking to Sandi, "What seems to be the trouble, Sandi?"

"There's no trouble," Zeak responded as he sneered at Dotty before turning to go back to the bar.

With the troubles over, Dotty smiled down at Leo. "Would you like to join me and my friend at our table?" Not bothering to wait for a reply, she picked up his cocktail and added, "I promise we don't bite."

Leo seemed relieved for the company as moved his chair to their table. Dotty took her seat pointing to Scott. "This is my friend Scott Crow. We're on a road trip."

"Oh that sounds lovely," Leo answered. Just then Ozzy stood up from under the table and placed his chin on Leo's knee. Leo let out a shriek and held his hands up.

Dotty giggled. "Don't be scared. That's Ozzy. He might look scary but he's very sweet."

With a gingerly touch, Leo lightly patted Ozzy's head with the tips of his fingers. "Nice doggy."

Ozzy whined and licked Leo's fingers.

"See dude, he likes you," Scott said trying to help the timid man relax a bit.

"He seems very nice."

Dotty lifted her beer and said, "Cheers. To making new friends." Leo clinked his glass against her bottle, but Dotty had the feeling his heart wasn't in it. She had never met anyone in her life that seemed so scared of his own shadow. Trying to get Leo to open up a bit, she asked, "So, do you live near here?"

Leo nodded and looked down at his drink. Dotty and Scott exchanged a look. Neither knew what to say to this poor, timid man. It was heartbreaking to watch and then very quietly Leo began to speak. Both Scott and Dotty needed to lean closer just to hear his voice. "I've lived in Nowhere all my life and I have hated every minute of it." Just saying the words out loud seemed to release a great deal of pressure of Leo. He looked up and sighed.

"So why don't you leave?" Dotty asked.

"Well, don't laugh, but my dream is to move to New York and make beautiful costumes for Broadway." Leo's eyes lit up for the first time at the mere mention of New York but then he shook his head dismissing the idea. "I've bought my ticket so many times, and then at the last minute I always chicken out." He shrugged with resignation and continued, "But now I have a job sewing for Miss Cramstack. She owns the local dress store and I live in the storage attic above her shop. Most days everyone in town just ignores me, so I guess it's not so bad really. "

"Oh man, you're totally slappin' a bummer on my high," Scott said rolling his head back. Dotty shot him a look to try and shut him up.

"Sorry. I'm just so afraid that I'll get to New York and no one will like me."

"Dude, no offense, but it doesn't sound like anyone likes you here. How much worse could New York be? "

Over at the bar, Zeak was keeping a watchful eye on Dotty. He took a shot of whiskey and asked Sandi with a nod of his chin, "What's the story with those two?"

Sandi refilled his shot glass, "No story. They're just passing through."

Zeak swiveled his chair around to face her, and said with a grin, "Well ya know, me and Louie here are the official welcoming committee for Nowhere."

"Aahh Zeak, I don't want to be on no committee," Louie whined from the next barstool.

Sandi set the bottle of whisky down and said, "You leave those kids alone. I don't want any trouble in my bar."

"Well we just thought we'd get them a fruit basket or something."

Louie groaned loudly. "I don't have no kind a money for no fruit basket."

Sandi reached out and grabbed Zeak's dirty tee-shirt. "I'm warning you Zeak. You leave them be." She gave him a shove and left to help other customers.

Zeak smacked Louie across the arm and he swung his barstool around. "What are you stupid?"

Louie reached over and grabbed a handful of peanuts and shoved them in his mouth. As he spoke with his mouth full, bits of peanuts fell onto his shirt. "Me? You're the one wants to spend all our beer money on fruit for people we don't even know. If you ask me that's a whole lot stupider."

"Shut up," Zeak growled. Whoever this girl was, Zeak didn't like being made a fool of.

After another round of drinks and telling Leo's about their travels, how they had broken down and been picked up by Tim, Dotty had excused herself to use the restroom. As she passed by the bar, Zeak reached out and grabbed her arm pulling her close. "I like a feisty woman," he sneered.

Dotty waved a hand in front of her face and pulled her arm free. "To bad you don't like a toothbrush more." Before he could respond she hurried away. That man gave her a bad feeling and she thought the sooner she got out of Nowhere, the better off she would be. On her way to the restroom, Dotty couldn't help but pause for a brief moment to take in the site of Tim Mann bending over the pool table to take a shot. He sank the eight ball winning the game and when he looked up, Dotty gave him a smile and a wave. In returned she received a curt nod. Defeated, Dotty continued to the restroom. Sometimes a girl just needed to know when to cut her losses.

Dotty pushed open the bathroom door and was met with a wailing cry. Standing by the sink was a woman bawling her head off. Dotty had not noticed the woman before and wondered how long she had been in the bathroom crying. "Are you okay?" Dotty asked.

The woman looked up with red puffy eyes. She had sharp pointed features that hardened her face. A black dress clung to her thin frame and she may have been quite beautiful if there wasn't an angry fire in her green eyes that caused Dotty to step back. "Leave me alone!" the woman snapped. "Can't you see I'm fine!"

Dotty decided she could hold it until Sandi showed them their rooms for the night. She quickly scrambled out of the bathroom and rushed back to her table. Still feeling shaken, she said, "I just had the most bizarre encounter with this woman…"

"Was she hot?" Scott asked interrupting her.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Dotty asked.

Scott shrugged, "It's just whenever I picture women having encounters," he said air quoting encounters, "they're always hot."

Leo and Dotty stared at Scott incredulously, neither knowing how to respond to his remark.

"What?" Scott asked.

The sound of a slamming door pulled their attention to the back of the bar. The woman from the bathroom stormed out. She stopped at the table staring at Tim Mann for a moment and then let out and ear piecing scream, spinning on her heels and sweeping out of the bar, her black dress billowing behind her.

"That's her!" Dotty exclaimed. "She was hysterical in the ladies restroom."

"Definitely, not hot," Scott said.

"Oh honey," Leo said with a disgusted look on his face. "Stay far away from her. That is Wendy East. She is one ugly, mean, bitch you will ever meet. Downright ugly to the core." He gave a shudder that shook his slender shoulders.

"Seriously dude," Scott said. "You need to get out of this town. It's full of crazy people."

"I know, right?" Leo replied with a sad shake of his head.

After Wendy stormed out, the night continued on without much excitement. The three new friends talked easily and found they had more in common than not. They each in their own way had grown up feeling like a misfit orphan in one way or another, Dotty's parents had died when she was just a toddler, Scott had been kicked out of his home, and Leo, they found out, had been dropped off at his grandmother's house for a visit by parents who never returned to pick him up.

As much fun as Dotty was having with Scott and Leo, she felt her eyes growing heavy. It had been so long since she'd had a decent nights sleep. Glancing up at the old clock on the wall behind the bar, she was relieved to see it was nearing 1:30. Soon the bar would close up and she would be able to collapse into a bed. Looking around at the condition of most of the customers, Dotty hopped it wouldn't take Sandi too long to usher the drunks out at the end of the night. As she glanced around, Dotty's eyes fell on Tim. She could have sworn he was watching her from across the room, but as soon as she looked in his direction, he quickly looked away.

"So, Sissy Boy, why don't you introduce me to your pretty friend." Zeak's slurring voice pulled Dotty's attention back to the table.

She had not been paying attention and didn't see Zeak and Louie approach the table. Her defenses immediately went up. Ozzy must have felt it too, as she heard him let out a low growl from under the table. Dotty had felt more on equal ground when she confronted Zeak on her feet. Now the two giants loomed over their table putting her at a disadvantage. She felt like a trapped bunny and the fact that both of the men appeared to be intoxicated made Dotty all the more nervous.

Zeak came around to Dotty's side and ran his fingers through her hair. "Hey there little farm girl, I got something you can milk."

As scared at Dotty felt she was determined not to show it. She slapped Zeak's hand away but he caught her wrist in his massive paw, squeezing it tightly. "You need to learn to play nice," he leered.

Out of nowhere, Scott Crow jumped up out of his chair knocking it over. 'Hey buddy, you better watch it!" He shouted at Zeak. "Let her go!"

Louie let out a laugh. "What are you gonna do tough guy?"

Scott must have watched too many movies as a kid where the underdog scared off bullies by acting insane. It was the only explanation Dotty could come up with for what happened next. Scott let out a guttural growl and began hitting his own chest. " Come on! You want a piece of me? Come on! I dare ya! You just bought yourself a one way ticket to the morgue my friend!"

In one quick move, Louie lifted Scott over his shoulder and began bouncing him up and down. All hell broke loose in a flash. Dotty yelled at Louie, "Put him down!" as Leo screamed and dove under the table. Ozzy lunged at Zeak and bit his leg to which Zeak yelled out in pain and in return kicked Ozzy and sent him sliding across the floor. Hearing Ozzy cry out send Dotty into a rage. She turned on Zeak like a wild animal and began swinging. "Don't you kick my dog, you big gorilla!"

Zeak was just about to haul off and backhand Dotty when a firm grip clamped down on his shoulder. "That's about enough of that," Tim Mann said. "Louie, put him down."

Louie dropped Scott onto the ground. He quickly jumped back onto his feet, dusted himself off and said, "Yeah, that what I thought."

"Where's Ozzy," Dotty asked frantically.

"Don't worry," Leo answered coming out from under the table. "He's here with me. He's fine."

Dotty dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms protectively around her dog. Ozzy covered her face with kisses.

"We were just having some fun with the little tart and her two prissy friends," Zeak said.

"Yeah well, the little tart and her two prissy friends happen to be friends of mine. So unless you want to have some fun with me, I suggest you get on out of here," Tim answered.

"Come on Zeak, let's go," Louie said. "It ain't worth it. "

Zeak and Tim stared each other down until finally Zeak relented and took a couple of steps back. He pointed a finger at Tim. "I'll be seeing you again."

"Anytime," Tim replied. When Zeak and Louie were safely outside, Tim reached his hand out to help Dotty up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said looking him in the eyes. "Wow, it seems like every time I'm in trouble you're coming to the rescue."

Tim returned her gaze but not her smile. "Let's not make a habit of it. Your car will be ready first thing in the morning." With that he turned and walked over to the bar to order another beer.

Dotty let out a dreamy sigh as she watched him go. Whatta man.

Placing a comforting arm over Dotty's shoulder, Leo said, "Forget about it Honey. There hasn't been one woman in all of Nowhere that's been able to get his heart. And believe me, they have all tried."

"Oh who cares, we're leaving in the morning anyway," Dotty said.

"Where ya all headed?"

"Kansas. And the sooner the better."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

After a good nights sleep, Dotty and Scott headed over to Tim's garage first thing in the morning, The room they had shared was small and plain, two single beds on metal frames and a small sink in the corner. Dotty did her best to wash up the best she could, kicking Scott out of the room to take Ozzy for a walk and using the sliver of bar soap available, she washed her face and under her arms. There was nothing she could do about being in the same milkmaid waitress uniform she had been stuck in for two nights in a row, but at least she managed to get some of the dirt off her face and neck. Driving through the arid desert had left her feeling as if she was covered in a layer of dirt. She'd dreamt of being at home on the farm and awoke more motivated than ever to get on the road.

When they walked in the garage, Tim was just lowering the hood of the Cadillac. "Good morning," Dotty called out. She could have sworn a slight smile came over his face when he saw her, even if it was for just the briefest second before he picked up a clipboard off the workbench and began scribbling notes. Not looking up he said, "Looks like you're all set."

Dotty clapped her hands together. She was so excited to get going. "How much do I owe you?"

Tim ripped a sheet of paper off the clipboard and handed it to her. "Two-hundred twenty five."

"What?" A wave of nausea came of Dotty. Two-hundred and twenty-five dollars was nearly all the money she had left in her account. The fifty in cash she had fled with was nearly gone, and she still had to buy gas for the trip.

As she stood there with her mouth open staying at the invoice in her hand, Scott leaned in and said, "Two-hundred and…"

Dotty shoved him away. "I heard what he said." She turned her attention to Tim and stammered, "But I thought all you had to do was glue something?"

"It's more than a fair price," Tim responded. "I'm not ripping you off."

"No, no, I didn't think you were. It's just that…" Dotty couldn't bear to say the words out loud. She lowered her head and mumbled to Scott. "How much money do you have?"

He looked at her with a mixture of amusement and confusion. "I'm a high school drop out riding a skateboard. I got nothin'."

"I don't have that much cash," Dotty explained.

Tim's cell phone rang in his jeans pocket. He took it out looked at it. Ignoring the call, he tossed the phone on his workbench and said, "I can take a credit card."

Hoping to lighten the mood, Dotty burst out, "And as soon as I get approved for one I'll send it right over." She punctuated the joke by double pointing her gun shaped fingers and giving Tim two shots.

Tim didn't smile.

"Listen," Dotty said, "I promise that when I get to Kansas, I will send you a check. You can trust me. "

Tim's phone rang once again and he ignored it. "I don't trust anyone," he replied.

"That doesn't sound healthy," Scott chimed in.

"I have the money!"

The sound of Leo's voice pulled everyone's attention to the open garage door. It took Dotty a moment to recognize him. He looked beautiful, but she had to blink a couple of times to be sure it was the man she had met the night before. It was him alright. In full makeup, a long flowing wig and a dress better suited for a nightclub in New York than Nowhere in the early morning.

Leo teetered his way in sky-high heels through the garage dragging numerous suitcases.

"Holy shit Dude, you're in a dress," Scott said pointing out the obvious.

Leo blew past Scott. "Oh hush up. Dotty, you have to take me with you. If I don't get out of this place today, I'm afraid I'll never leave."

Dotty couldn't take her eyes off Leo. He was gorgeous and she found herself feeling a bit jealous. She had never looked this put together even on her best day. Finally she managed to come to her senses and say, "Of course you can come, but we're only going as far as Kansas."

"It doesn't matter," Leo said wiping a tear from his eye. "I have to take the first step and try to be who I really am."

"I think you took care of that when you pulled on the panty hose," Scott chimed in once again.

Whacking Scott in the arm to shut him up, Dotty said to Leo, "I'd love for you to join us. And not just because you have money. Although that does help."

With great joy Leo squealed and threw his arms around Dotty.

The task of loading Leo's suitcases fell to Scott. While Leo and Dotty took care of the bill, he opened the Cadillac's large trunk and began making room. Seeing a guitar case, Scott opened it and pulled out an immaculate vintage Gibson Southern Jumbo acoustic guitar. He couldn't resist the urge to play rock star and gave the string a hard strum causing the instrument to go crashing to the ground. Scott quickly glanced around the open trunk to see if anyone noticed. When they didn't, he causally picked up the guitar and brushed it off.

With the bill paid, and the luggage loaded, Dotty was thanked Tim for all his help. Mostly she just wanted an extra few moments to study his perfect face and burn it into her memory "Maybe when I get home and settled in, I'll look you up on Facebook," Dotty offered. When she received a blank stare as a response, she asked, "Twitter? Instagram? MySpace? Really? None of this is ringing a bell?"

It was the first time she had seen the man give a genuine smile. It was perfect. She couldn't believe he could get anymore beautiful but when the two adorable dimples formed on his cheeks she thought she might swoon.

Tim chuckled and said, "I've heard of those things, I just don't have much time for computers."

"Too busy driving the dark lonely highways?" Dotty asked

"Yeah, something like that," he nodded.

"Well, Tim Mann, thank you for all your help," Dotty said as she walked backward to the drivers side of the car." She opened the door adding with a grin, "And good luck with the whole lone wolf thing ya got going on. It seems to be working for you."

Dotty climbed into the drivers seat and started the car, and then opened her purse and looked for her sunglasses. While she was looking Scott said from the passengers seat, "I didn't know you played the guitar."

"I don't," Dotty answered not looking up. When she heard him strum a chord that got her attention and she asked, "Where did you get that?" Dotty recognized it as one of Randy's favorites. She remembered because he had borrowed four hundred dollars from her to pay it off and then never paid her back.

"It was in the truck," Scott said.

Finding her sunglasses, Dotty put them on and replied. "Merry Christmas. It's yours.

"Whoa! Thank you!"

Dotty put the Cadillac in reverse and slowly started to back out before slamming on the breaks to avoid hitting Wendy East as she marched into the garage. "You bastard!" she shouted at Tim as she came around the side of the Cadillac

The woman looked much better than she had the previous night in the bathroom, but not much. Someone needed to tell her to go easy in the makeup. It was packed on in thick layers. She was wearing a short, tight black skirt, fishnet stockings and a black sweater covered in rhinestones. Over that she had on an emerald green scarf and dangling earrings in the same shade, which sadly, matched a heavy layer of eye shadow that swept over her entire lid. She reminded Dotty of a mob wife. Leo must have felt the same because he leaned up from the back seat and whispered, "Sometimes less is more."

A small part of Dotty felt the right thing to do was to quietly back the car out of the garage and leave them to what was obviously a private matter, but any conversations that started with "you bastard" just begged to be heard.

"What are you doing here Wendy? I told you whatever it is you think is going on between, us isn't. It's over."

"I've been calling you all morning," Wendy wailed.

"And I've been ignoring you. So why don't you take yourself on home now. Whatever you thought was happening between us never happened. It's over."

Reaching into her purse, Wendy pulled out a small handgun and pointed it at Tim. "It's not over until I say it's over."

If the handgun pointing at his chest scared Tim, he didn't show it. "I'm not getting trapped by you or any woman. You got that? I will not marry you."

Like a spoiled child, Wendy stomped her feet and wailed, "But I'm having your baby! You can't abandon me."

An audible gasp emerged from the three travelers still sitting in the Cadillac. Dotty could guess that Tim Mann was a tough nut to crack, that was clear, but she never guessed he was so cold. Dumping a pregnant woman? What kind of heartless bastard did that?

With a vicious sneer, Wendy turned on them and snapped, "This doesn't concern you!"

Whatever bed Tim had made, it was his to lie in. "You're right it doesn't," she replied as she shot a look of disgust in Tim's direction before backing the car out of the garage and taking off.

A few moments later, the Cadillac was speeding past the Nowhere sign and leaving the broke down town in a cloud of dust. Dotty couldn't get away fast enough. She felt an anger rising up in her along with an even stronger need to get home. Mostly she was angry with herself. It had only been barely twenty-four hours since discovering her low down dirty boyfriend was cheating and here she was immediately picking another bad seed to find attractive. Dotty heard the message loud and clear. Her picker was broken and the sooner she got to her farm in Kansas, where she could live a quiet life the better. Men! Who needed them? Not Dotty. That was one thing of which she was certain.

"What are we going to do?" Scott asked, interrupting Dotty's fantasy of growing old with cats. "Should we call the police?"

"No!" Dotty replied a little to hastily. "I mean, he's a big boy. He can take care of himself."

Seeing that he wasn't getting anywhere with Dotty, Scott turned his attention to the back seat. "She won't really shoot him, right?"

Leo shook his head slowly and shrugged. "I don't know. Wendy East is one mean, scary, witch. I wouldn't put anything past her. She is crazy with a capitol K."

Rolling her eyes, Dotty added, "Can you blame her? He gets her pregnant then apparently doesn't care. What a jerk!"

Scott sighed. "This totally sucks man, after he was so cool last night. We would have been hamburger meat last night if he hadn't stopped those two gorillas."

"That's true," Leo chimed in. "Zeak and Louie are not the guys you want to mess with. The only one in town who ever stands up to them is Tim."

The one thing Dotty hated more than anything was feeling guilty. It made her stomach sick to see anyone in pain. Randy used to use it against her all the time. He would pout and mope around until eventually Dotty couldn't take another moment and gave in. Now the idea of Tim laying in a pool of his own blood haunted her. Without warning she slammed on the breaks sending everyone flying forward.

"Shit!" she grumbled realizing that as much as she didn't like Tim Mann at this moment, it would be wrong to leave him in that situation. He could have looked the other way last night at the bar, but he didn't. Dotty at least owed him the same in return. She quickly whipped the car around and headed back to the garage flooring it all the way.

Just as the Cadillac came screeching back in front of the garage, they could see Tim backing out with his hands in the air. Wendy was walking toward him with her finger still on the trigger. "We are going to my Daddy's office and you are going to ask for my hand in marriage."

Tim continued backing away but he wouldn't back down. "Go ahead and shoot, cause it's never gonna happen."

The squealing of the tires had momentarily startled both Tim and Wendy. "Get in!" Scott shouted.

Tim turned and jumped into the back seat and Dotty jammed on the gas, before Wendy could realize what was happing. As they tore off down the road they could hear her screaming, "Get back here, you squeaky prick!" A moment later the sound of shots firing filled the morning air.

"Did that bitch just shoot at us?" Dotty shouted, as she pressed harder on the gas pedal.

"I told you she was crazy," Leo echoed.

Dotty's heart was pounding as fast as the engine was turning. She needed miles between her and the town of Nowhere. When the speedometer pushed one hundred miles an hour, Leo leaned forward and said, "She isn't following us. You can slow down."

Dotty heard his words but they didn't reach her foot that remained firmly pressed to the floor of the car. Fearing for his life, Leo tried once again, "Honey, you can slow down."

When she continued at the same rate of speed both Scott who was white knuckling the dash and Leo yelled in unison, "Slow down!"

That seemed to snap Dotty out of her fog and she glance around at her terrified passengers. "Sorry," she mumbled as she lowered her speed.

From the backseat, Tim leaned forward as a shaken Scott lit up a joint. Tim touched Dotty's shoulder and said, "Hey thanks for coming back. I owe you one."

In response, Dotty shrugged off his touch. She didn't want Tim Mann thinking she was sympathetic to his plight. As far as she felt they were square and she wanted nothing more to do with the likes of him. "Consider us even. So where can I drop you off?" she fired off not bothering to hide the irritation in her voice.

A confused look came over Tim's face. The last thing he needed was another pissed off woman. And to top it off, he hadn't done anything to this one except find her stranded, fix her car, and get her out of a sticky situation with two losers. Who was she to be throwing shade at him? "What's your problem? I'm the one who was nearly shot by that lunatic."

Dotty snorted and waved him off by raising her hand. "Right. Of course! It's always the woman whose crazy. You men just run around sleeping with whoever you want, and we're the irrational lunatics."

Now Time was really confused. He couldn't wrap his head around why this girl getting so upset? It wasn't like he had made her come back to get him. He appreciated that she did, but he wasn't willing to grovel and take shit for it. "What are you even talking about?" He asked, genuinely trying to figure out what was going through her brain.

Looking in the review mirror and catching Tim's eye Dotty pressed on, "Did you know, she was hysterical last night?"

"She's always hysterical!" Tim protested. Now he was feeling defensive and wondering if jumping in the car had been a mistake. Maybe he was better off taking his chances with Wendy.

"Forget it. I wouldn't expect you to understand," Dotty said. She was giving up on this man. Some people you just couldn't talk to. The sooner Tim was out of her car the better she would feel. She'd saved his miserable angry life and now he could go live it far away from her.

But Tim wasn't ready to drop it. Now he was irritated. Who did she think she was? She know nothing about him and now was going to make judgments on what he did or did not understand. He'd had enough of the badgering and the sooner he was out of this car the better off he would be. "Look, I don't need to take this shit from you. I have enough problems." Now the conversation could end.

Dotty was not about to be shut down by any man. She would have the final word. "And like a typical man, you're choosing to run away from them." There that should shut him up.

Tim had other ideas. "And like a typical woman, you won't shut your pie hole long enough to get the facts straight." Now it was over. Tim leaned back in the seat and folded his arms still fuming.

"Oooh, there is some bad juju in this car," Leo said while trying to wave away the negative energy. Scott reached back with the joint and offered it to Leo. "Thank you, sweetie," he said before lifting the joint to his lips and inhaling deeply.

The four relative strangers, who'd found themselves tossed together by circumstance, continued the drive in silence, unsure of where the long road would lead them.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Turns out the road lead them to a small roadside diner and hour outside of Nowhere. It seemed like a good place to stop and regroup. Dotty and Tim had only ordered coffee, but Scott and Leo, who had smoked their fair share of weed, wolfed down large plates of pancakes, eggs and bacon. A steak was ordered for Ozzy who patiently waited in the car and now it sat in a doggy bag in the middle of the table.

Tim, after discovering that no one in the group had a cell phone, (Dotty had not paid her bill, Scott didn't own anything and Leo had no friends and therefore no reason to call anyone and Tim had left is on the work bench back at his shop) got up to see about finding a pay phone. He returned a couple of minutes later and sat back down, his hip releasing a loud squeak as he lowered himself into the booth.

Dotty refused to look at him. It was too painful. How could someone so beautiful be so awful to women? It offended her as a feminist and as someone who found him incredibly hot. Two days ago she thought Randy was a dream. Now, compared to Tim, Randy seemed like an old sack of rotten potatoes. It didn't matter anyway, she hated them both equally. Randy, because he was a two-face, lying, using, jerk and Tim, because is cold, dead heart made him a waste of what would otherwise be a perfectly good man.

Scott crow broke the tense silence by asking Tim had any luck with his phone call. Dotty was beginning to see that Scott in all his simplicity was a comfort to have around. He was good at lightening the mood by not taking life too seriously. Maybe it was easier for him because he was mostly stoned all the time.

Tim poured more cream in his lukewarm coffee and said, "I got a hold of my buddy. He's gonna lock up the garage. I can't go back there until she calms down and I can talk some sense into her."

Dotty snorted at this but remained silent.

"Talking sense into Wendy East?" Leo questioned. "Good luck, babydoll. That woman is pure evil. With a capitol E. E-V-I-L. Evil."

Tim sighed heavily and for a split second Dotty glanced up and felt a tinge of sympathy for him as he said, "Tell me about it. I just hope she doesn't convince her father to call in my loan. I could lose the garage."

The sympathy she felt quickly evaporated when she reminded herself that this was a mess of his own making. Wendy didn't impregnate herself. She had every right to be upset. Tim was just acting like a baby, a big baby who was actually going to have a baby. "Don't you think you guys are being a little dramatic? I'm mean, really. How bad could she be?"

What Dotty didn't know was that Wendy East could be very bad, as she would show when she stormed into the small Nowhere Sheriff's office. The Sherriff Tommy and his younger brother Jimmy also happened to be Wendy's older brothers. Since not a whole lot happened in the town of Nowhere, Tommy and Jimmy spent most of their days sitting in their office, with their feet up on their desks, playing computer games. The two men were opposites in looks, the older sheriff was as tall and lanky and his younger brother was short and stout.

Playing video games was exactly what they were doing when Wendy stormed in. The sound of the slamming door caused both men to look up but when they saw Wendy they immediately returned their attention back to the games. She marched over to Tommy and slapped his feet off his desk while demanding that the two of them chase down Tim Mann and drag him back so they could be married.

The Sherriff sat up in his chair and pushed his hat back with slow lanky fingers. He glanced up at Wendy and wondered what horrible thing he had done in a past life to deserve such a rotten sister. Ever since the day she was born, Wendy had been making Tommy and Jimmy's life a living hell. He blamed their father. The old man had spoiled her rotten. So much so, that on Wendy's tenth birthday their own mother had thrown in the towel and split town. It had all happened over a cake.

Wendy wanted a green cake. Green was her favorite color and so their mother had ordered a green frosted sheet cake from a bakery one hundred and twenty miles away. After a four-hour round-trip drive their mother had walked in and presented the cake to Wendy at her party. Without waiting for candles or the traditional song, Wendy grabbed a knife and cut into the cake. Upon discovering that the cake was actually a white cake with green frosting, Wendy flew into a rage and began slinging the cake all over the dining room. Horrified party guests dove for cover as tantrum continued.

When Wendy had finally stopped the walls, carpet, furniture and guests weren't fast enough to run were covered in green frosting. Their mother wiped a glob of frosting off her forehead, turned to her husband and said, "You created this monster, you deal with it," and then she went upstairs and packed a bag.

As Tommy looked up at his sister now, he could still remember the smug smile she wore under a face covered in green icing on the day she chased their mother away. "Come on Wendy, everyone knows you've slept with half the town. If the man won't marry you there's nothing we can do about it."

Wendy's jaw tightened. "You listen to me, I don't know who that little tramp was that he took off with, but they were a bunch of freaks I tell you. I even smelled marijuana coming from the car."

Jimmy chuckled at this, looking away from his Candy Crush game for the first time since Wendy had arrived. "Hey Tommy, remember when Zeak and Louie bought pot from that trucker?" He laughed once again and added, "Turned out to be dried parsley. Zeak was so mad I thought..."

"Shut up you imbecile!" Wendy snapped, cutting him off mid-sentence.

Being snapped at by Wendy had long ago stopped affecting the men and they went back to their games hoping that if they simply ignored her, maybe she would go away.

Dotty wasn't about to let Tim off the hook. She found his behavior appalling. For a man to leave a pregnant woman all alone was unforgiveable in her opinion. Maybe Wendy was acting crazy, but hadn't Dotty acted a bit crazy when she caught Randy in bed with another woman. Dotty was willing to give Wendy the benefit of the doubt and hoped that Tim would at least go home and talk to her. She took a sip of her coffee and said, "I'm just saying, that if people would start to realize how their action affect others, maybe they would think twice."

"You don't understand," Leo said, coming to Tim defense as the only other person who had first hand knowledge of the inner workings of the small town. "Wendy's family controls all of Nowhere. Her father is the Mayor and owns just about everything, including the bank and all the buildings. Her two older brothers are the Sheriff and the Deputy. I heard their own mother left town just to get away from Wendy."

Dotty's heart stopped and she nearly choked on her coffee. "What did you say?" she asked grabbing Leo's arm.

"Her own mother left town…"

"No, before that. About her brothers?"

Scott lowered his voice and added a twang for effect, "They be the law in these parts, Missy."

Dotty couldn't breath. She placed a hand on her chest and inhaled deeply. When that didn't work she grabbed the nearest glass of water and chugged it.

"Are you gonna pass out?" Tim asked.

She knew she had to tell them the truth. It began to dawn on her that perhaps she really hadn't thought through this plan of hers and she owed it to the others to explain the exact situation they were in. "Oh God..." she started, not sure how to say it. "Okay, don't freak out... but there is a slight chance that..." Dotty searched for the right words, "Well, technically we're driving, in what could be considered, in some small circles, as a stolen car."

With his hands flying into the air dramatically Leo burst out, "Oh Lord have mercy! Oh no, no, no, Honey, this is not good. I am far too pretty to go to jail!"

Dotty fixed Leo with a gaze. "I just said, don't do that."

"Look, either you stole the car or you didn't," Tim stated flatly while locking eyes with Dotty.

Despite everything, Dotty's stomach still did a flip-flop when Tim looked at her. She pulled her gaze away so that she could focus on her words and explain the situation. As she fiddled with the saltshaker she casually threw out, "I didn't steal anything. I simply borrowed it from my lying, cheating, ex- boyfriend. He on the other hand, might believe it to be stolen... and quite possibly passed on that piece of information to the authorities."

She tried her hardest to sound nonchalant, as if this was just a simple misunderstanding but when she finally looked up at saw the others staring at her with their mouth open, she had to admit even to herself that this might be a more serious situation. No one said anything for a long time until finally it was Scott who broke the shock. "I don't know about you, but I'm thinking now might be a good time to get the hell out of Dodge."

It was the nudge they all needed to get moving. At once they all jumped up from the table and hurried out of the diner. As they approached the car, Scott snatched his backpack out of the back seat and bee-lined for the trunk. He was busy burying the backpack under all of Leo's suitcases when Leo poked his head over the back seat and shouted, "What are you doing? We're running for our lives in case you forgot!"

Quickly closing the trunk, Scott jumped in the back next to Leo. "Just making more room," he said as he took out the hamburger they'd ordered to go and began feeding it to Ozzy.

After a brief argument over who should drive, Tim finally won by letting Dotty know that he was more familiar with the back roads and that staying off the main highway was a good idea. She reluctantly agreed and tossed him in the keys, but the arguing continued.

As he pulled out of the parking lot of the diner and sped down a small dirt road leaving a trail of dust behind the Cadillac, Tim shook his head and grumbled, "This is just perfect. I knew you were trouble the minute I laid eyes on you." He then switched his voice to a higher octave and mimicked Dotty, saying, "If people would just realize how their actions..."

Dotty hated being mimicked like she was stupid. Randy used to do it to her and it made her want to scream. She quickly cut Tim off. "I'm going to give it back. I just need to get home first." With that she threw herself back in the seat, crossed her arms over her chest and looked off into the horizon hoping that would shut Tim off.

It didn't. "I'm sure the cops will love that story," he shot back.

"Hey!" she shouted turning her attention back to him, "The police wouldn't be chasing me if you managed to keep your pants zipped up!"

Tim's nostrils flared with anger. He pulled his eyes off the road and glared at Dotty. "Whatever I do with my pants is none of your business. I don't know what your boyfriend did to you, but I'm not him."

"You can say that again," she snipped. "I would never go out with someone like you."

"Right back at cha' Sweetheart," he slung back at her.

"Why don't you shut up."

"Why don't you shut up."

"You know, you can just pull over and get out of my car right now!" Dotty said her voice growing louder.

"It's not your car," Tim sneered than shouted for emphasis, "You stole it!"

"I borrowed it!" Dotty screamed back.

It was Scott who lunged forward from the back seat placing a hand on each of their shoulders to calm them down. "Guys! Guys! Come on, chill out. This is so totally unproductive. And besides, check out what you're doing to Leo."

Dotty and Tim turned their heads back to see Leo curled up in a fetal position rocking back and forth. He had one hand over his ear and another in his mouth. Dotty's heart went out to the overly sensitive man, and she immediately felt bad. His first attempt to change his life and leave Nowhere was turning into a nightmare. She was afraid he would run back home the first chance he got and never dare leave again. She placed a soothing hand on his knee and softened her voice. "Leo Honey, it's going to be okay. We won't fight anymore."

"Promise?" he mumbled through the thumb sucking.

"Yes," Dotty answered while smiling reassuringly.

"What about him?" Leo asked pointing his head toward Tim.

"He won't argue anymore either." When Tim didn't respond, Dotty elbowed him. "Tell Leo we won't fight anymore."

Tim glanced in the review mirror, catching Leo's eyes. It was hard for Tim to relate to Leo's dramatic response to the situation, but he had known Leo for a few years and held a soft spot for him. "It's cool man, we're done arguing."

Dotty patted Leo's knee and said, in a motherly voice, "Now be a big boy and take your thumb out of your mouth. And pull your skirt down Sweetie. I can see all your business."

As Leo unfolded himself and straightened his dress, Scott chimed in, "I don't know what we're stressing out about, Wendy, probably didn't even get a good look at the car."

"It's a late model yellow Cadillac, with a large dent in the front end. Here's the license plate number," Wendy said as she handed Tommy the work order for the car that she had swiped from Tim's shop.

The Sherriff wanted nothing to do with this charade. He might have been Wendy's older brother, but helping her trap a man into marriage happily didn't fall under his jurisdiction or his job description. He looked up at Wendy without taking the paper from her. "I won't be a part of... "

Throwing the paper onto his desk, Wendy leaned in close to The Sherriff's face and sneered, "You find them Tommy, or I'll tell Daddy what really happened the night you two idiots smashed up the patrol car."

Tommy reluctantly picked up the paper and handed it to his brother. "Jimmy, look up the license plate number and see who this Dotty girl is."

Tommy had been regretting his lapse in judgment for two years. One wild night of drinking with Zeak and Louie, a little cocaine and a few out of town prostitutes had resulted in the police car ending up totaled and floating in the middle of a nearby lake. Weeks after Tommy and Jimmy had convinced their father that the car had been stolen and destroyed by joy riders, Wendy appeared in their office with video footage of the entire night's events. She'd got the damming evidence from Louie's phone and had been blackmailing them with it ever since. God, he hated her!

"Tim Mann is a good guy. How he ever got trapped in your web, I'll never understand," Tommy said.

Jimmy laughed and added, "She probably got him drunk." There was a ping on The Deputy's computer that caught his attention. "Whoa, look at this. Says here this car was reported stolen from Los Angeles."

In that moment, Tommy wished he could wipe the smug smile off Wendy's face. She had been making his life miserable for years, and now it looked like she had set her sights on Tim Mann. Whoever this Dotty girl was, Tommy's sympathies went out to her. She had made the single mistake of getting in the way of something Wendy wanted.

As if reading Tommy's mind and proving his point, Wendy folded her arm triumphantly and said to no one in particular, "I'll get you Tim Mann and your little slut too."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"Now remember, don't stay on the line for too long," Tim said as he, Dotty and Scott stood by an old payphone in the parking lot of a run down truck stop. Leo had been too scared to get out of the car, so he stayed back with Ozzy. Since no one had a cell phone, they had to dig around in their pockets and the floor of the Cadillac to scrounge up enough change to use the outdated phone.

Scott rocked casually back and fourth on his skateboard, and Tim continued to instruct Dotty. "Keep the call brief…"

"Yeah cuz the FBI will totally tap a phone line for one stolen car," Scott added sarcastically.

With a fast stomp of his foot and a squeak of his hip, Tim came down on the end of Scott's skateboard sending the kid flipping off and landing on the hard ground. Scott immediately jumped up and announced, "It's cool. I'm good."

As Dotty put the coins into the phone and held the dirty receiver with two fingers far away from her face, Tim continued, "Try and get a feel for what kind of mood he's in."

Dotty dialed the number and on the third ring Randy picked up.

"Randy, it's me," she said.

A loud string of curse words could be heard coming from the earpiece. Dotty gently replace the receiver ending the call. "He's a tad cranky," she said, letting her friend knows the obvious.

One thing Wendy knew for sure was that she couldn't count on her two idiotic brothers to bring Tim back. If she wanted to get something done she would need the help of two more idiots, ones that weren't afraid to bend the rules and break the law. And she knew where to find the two idiots she needed.

It was early evening, and Zeak and Louie were exactly where she thought they would be, sitting their lazy asses on a barstool at Sandi's. Wendy swung open the door and approached the two losers. "I have a job for you," she said, skipping any unnecessary social pleasantries.

Sandi approached the other side of the bar and tossed down a drink coaster as she said with a smile, "What can I get for you today, Wendy?"

"This is a private conversation," Wendy replied.

Since Sandi was never one to take too much shit from anyone she replied, "I didn't ask you what you were talking about. I asked you what you wanted to drink."

"Nothing." Wendy snipped.

As Sandi walked away to the friendlier end of the bar she grumbled under her breath, "What a bitch."

Wendy turned her attention back to Zeak and repeated, "Like I said, I have a job for you."

The giant lump of a man, took a swig of beer and answered, "I'm listening.

It had been a long day for everyone when the Cadillac pulled into a small rundown motel off the beaten path. The smile that appeared on Dotty's face when she saw the sign declaring a swimming pool, quickly faded when she saw that the only thing filling the pool was about two feet of slimy water and a mass of tumbleweeds. Well, at least it was cheap and there was a place around back to hide the car from the main road.

Dotty and Tim had gone into the office together and a short time later, after Tim had to foot the bill, they met the others by the car. Dotty had tried to joke when Tim reached for his wallet to pay by jokingly saying, "Good thing you had some business this morning, huh?"

His only reply had been a sideways glance. She began to wonder if the man ever smiled. Not that she blamed him. None of them had counted on being stuck together in such a way, but still Dotty always tried to keep a positive attitude but ol' sourpuss refused to crack even the smallest of grins.

When they reached the car, Dotty held out two sets of keys saying, "Okay, we're all set."

"Sleeping arrangements should be interesting," Scott said, as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.

Leo quickly took the keys, tossing one set to Tim. "Boys in one. Girls in the other," he said before taking Dotty by the hand and pulling her toward the motel leaving Tim and Scott alone.

Glancing over at Tim, Scott asked, "Do you snore?"

With no response Tim walked away. Scott quickly jumped on his skateboard and followed behind saying to Tim's back, "That's cool man. I was just wondering."

A short time later, Dotty was laying on the double bed in the sad little room surrounded by Leo's numerous open suitcases. Leo emerged from the bathroom after a tepid shower wearing a Japanese silk robe and a towel wrapped around his head. "You have so many beautiful things," she said while admiring his many outfits. "Did you make all of these?"

"Oh Honey, but of course. Everything I own is an original, like me. You could borrow something if you want," he said.

Dotty's eyes lit up. The idea of getting out of her waitress uniform was the most thrilling thing she had heard in days. "Really?" she said, barely able to contain her excitement. She had already noticed a cute little denim skirt that was to die for.

"Girlfriend, whatever is mine is yours. Besides, that sad little farm girl number doesn't do much for you," he said as he picked up a flowered 1950's inspired sundress that he had put together the week before.

"I didn't have a chance to pack," Dotty answered still eyeing the denim skirt. "It will be so nice to get out of this awful uniform and put the past behind me."

Leo raised a knowing eyebrow. "And wearing one of my gorgeous creations won't hurt to try and impress a certain hunka hunka Mann."

At the very notion of what Leo was implying, Dotty shot up to her knees. "Don't be ridiculous. I hate him! He's heartless and…" Then Dotty remembered his gorgeous face and his strong masculine hands. "Why? Do you think he kind of likes me?"

Meanwhile in the room next door, Tim and Scott sat on the bed with Ozzy snoozing comfortably between them. The television with a crack in the lower right corner only received one channel and so the too dudes were stuck watching an old black and white romance. The woman in the movie was breaking things off with her fiancé and telling him she no longer loved him, but the truth was she had found out she couldn't have children. The woman knew how much the man loved children and so to spare him a childless life she was ending the relationship even though it broke her heart.

"What a load of crap," Scott said with a roll of his eyes. When Tim didn't say anything he looked over assuming he had fallen asleep. It was then he saw the tear rolling down Tim's cheek. Tim quickly tried to wipe it away but it was too late. "Hey man, are you crying?" Scott asked unable to believe what he was seeing.

Tim wiped both his eyes dry and continued staring straight ahead at the television trying to ignore Scott who had now gotten up on his knees turning his full attention toward Tim. "Dude, you're like all out weeping and shit. What's up with that?"

"Shut up," Tim replied barely above a whisper.

"Why, you're just a big ol' soft girly girl," Scott teased while playfully poking Tim in the ribs. "Who would have thought that Mr. Tough Guy was such a…"

With one massive hand, Tim reached out grabbing Scotts face like a basketball. With a hard shove he sent Scott flipping backwards over the edge of the bed. After a moment, Scott leapt to his feet and announced, "It's cool, bro. We don't have to talk about it.

"So what else?" Dotty asked while sitting on the floor as Leo sat behind her on the bed. She had taken a shower and borrowed one of Leo's silk robes. He'd offered to braid her wet hair so in the morning when it tried she would have bouncing loose curls. It had been so long since anyone had brushed Dotty's hair, and she realized now how much she had missed it. She missed a lot of things, the peaceful breeze on the farm, sitting out on the front deck drinking lemonade, and most off all the longs talks she would have with her Aunt about school, boys and life in general. Leo may have been born a man, but this was as close to girl-talk as Dotty had had in a very long time and she loved it.

"Well for starters," Leo said, "he mostly keeps to himself but when he first moved to Nowhere about four years ago the rumors flew around down."

"Like what?" Dotty asked, anxious to hear all the town gossip even if it wasn't her town. Gossiping in Los Angeles hadn't been any fun. The place was too big and Dotty didn't know anyone. What was the fun in hearing the dirt if you didn't even know the dirty people the dirt was being spread about?

"Girl," he said with a flick of his hand, "some folks said he belonged to a motorcycle gang, and got that scar in a knife fight. But others, said he got it while riding bulls in the rodeo."

Dotty sighed and hugged her knees close to her chest, "Wow. A genuine cowboy."

"Mmmm hmmmm, honey. Saddle him up and watch me ride. "

Leo and Dotty burst out laughing and then Dotty turned around and placed her arms on Leo's knees. She looked up into his kind face and said with a genuine smile and said, "I hope that we will be friends for a long time because I like you very much. When you go to New York and meet all your new fancy Broadway friends, don't forget about me, okay?"

They were the kindest words Leo had ever heard. His whole life he had felt invisible in the little town of Nowhere and for the first time he felt that he was being seen for who he truly was. "You're going to make me cry," he said, visibly touched. "Go on now, turn back around so I can finish."

Dotty settled back around and after a moment blurted out, "What's with the squeaking?"

"You heard that too!?" Leo gasped. "Everyone in town talks about it but no one dared to ask."

Tim sat in the darkened room, bare-chested wearing only his boxer shorts. He stared out the window while smoking a cigarette, his thoughts on the past and wondering what is future would hold. And then a flash of Dotty, in her weird outfit, shouting at him as they drove about borrowing the car and not stealing it flashed through his mind and he couldn't help himself from grinning, The girl certainly had fire. As he thought of Dotty, he ran his hand over his muscular chest and stopped on his heart. He didn't have to see it to know it was there. The long think scar that crossed his chest was a constant reminder never to get too close.

He stood up and stubbed out his cigarette then turned toward the bed. There he saw Scott Crow and Ozzy, spread out, snoring away. Seeing there wasn't any extra room and not wanting to disturb the two sleeping beauties, he took a pillow off the bed, pet Ozzy's head and lied down on the floor, his hip squeaking as he went. As Tim lay, staring up at the ceiling he allowed the image of Dotty's face to drift into his mind. If only for a moment.


End file.
